Hotplates, air stills, glass jars, measuring jugs, funnels, disposable gloves, breathing apparatus, frying pans, tubing, syringes and glassware were also found.
In several areas of the house, there were 20-litre containers of liquids, including toluene, large amounts of caustic soda, methamphetamine crystals and $124,835 in cash.
When the landlord had the home tested for meth contamination days after the raid in May 2024, the highest level of methamphetamine detected in a room was 3360 micrograms (µg) per 100sq cm. This was the highest reading the tribunal had seen.
The landlord, whose name is suppressed, applied to the tribunal for meth testing and decontamination costs, rent loss, police raid damage, reinstatement costs and power bills. He claimed a total loss of $163,374.55.
Tribunal adjudicators Rex Woodhouse and Toni Prowse said in their joint decision that the law did not allow them to make an order of more than $100,000.
The landlord, a large and established property management firm, accepted the limitation and confirmed that it still wanted the claim dealt with by the tribunal.
The tenant is in prison and arrangements were made for her to attend the hearing by audiovisual link, but she did not appear.
The tribunal understood that she chose not to attend, and the case was heard in her absence.
Home decontaminated five times
The tenancy began in March 2024. Two months later, a police raid uncovered meth manufacturing in the property.
The landlord had the premises tested for contamination. A report from Analytica Laboratories recorded 20 specific samples tested on May 28, 2024.
The highest level of methamphetamine detected was 3360µg/100sq cm, ranging down to 53.2µg.
The landlord noted that these were the highest levels it had seen, and the person who conducted the testing also said they were the highest he had seen in a home.
The landlord hired Extreme Cleaning Solutions (ECS) to decontaminate the house.
Three rounds of treatment were needed before the levels were low enough for ECS to issue a Decontamination Contractor Clearance Certificate.
Where manufacturing is suspected, contamination levels must be lowered to 1.5μg/100sq cm.
After the certificate was issued, the landlord began repairs and remedial work.
The landlord told the tribunal that it painted the interior of the entire house, installed a new benchtop and appliances in the kitchen, replaced light fittings and switches, replaced ventilation systems, heat pumps and extraction fans, and soft furnishings such as curtains, blinds and carpets.
The work was completed by November 18, 2024, and the landlord advertised the property for rent.
The property manager said it was difficult to relet, as potential tenants were put off by its past.
She told the tribunal that tenants were finally found in January 2025.
The ‘meth house’ stigma
Before the tenants moved in, the landlord ordered another methamphetamine test, which again showed contamination above 1.5µg/100sq cm in several rooms.
Further decontamination work was done, and a certificate was reissued.
The house was then put up for sale. There was little interest, which the landlord attributed to its stigma as a “meth house”.
In August 2025, further testing was done and, of the eight samples, two returned results above 1.5µg and more decontamination was completed.
Samples taken in October were less than 1.5µg, and the house was considered fit to relet.
“We accept that the tenant’s manufacture of methamphetamine contaminated these premises,” Woodhouse said.
“Because the methamphetamine contamination was more than 1.5μg/100sq cm, the premises were uninhabitable, or to put that another way, unclean and/or intentionally damaged.”
The landlord told the tribunal that Jiang had paid rent until June 4, 2024.
The landlord sought rent compensation from then until December 12, 2025, minus 90 days when the house was for sale, totalling $59,120.10, which was ordered to be paid in full.
The landlord was also successful in all but one of its other remedial work claims, which would have come to $60,900.38.
Given the tribunal’s cap, it could award remediation costs of only $40,879.90.
The landlord incurred costs of $3566.75 to repair police damage, including damage to doors, blinds and gate, but the tribunal ruled that these costs should sit with the tenant because they related to police actions to enforce the tenant’s breach.
“We recognise that the landlord seeks further orders. However, given … we have reached the ceiling of our jurisdiction, we decline to make further orders,” Woodhouse said.
Brianna McIlraith is a Queenstown-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the lower South Island. She has been a journalist since 2018 and has a strong interest in business and financial journalism.
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